Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B CPU cooler with LGA 1156 mounting kit now available

Scythe has finally announced the availability of the Mugen 2 Rev. B CPU cooler, complete with LGA 1156 socket compatible mounting kit, for those who have been waiting for it with bated breath since the new Intel socket's official announcement.

The company is also showing some love for owners of the original Scythe Mugen 2 CPU cooler by offering a separate Mugen 2 LGA1156 Conversion Kit. Of course, support for Intel's LGA 775 and LGA 1366 sockets remain, as well as for AMD sockets 754, 939, AM2(+) and AM3.

The Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B CPU cooler with LGA 1156 mounting kit is available for $49.80 USD or about 2,200 Pesos while the conversion kit sells for just $7.95 or a little over 350 Pesos.

Source: [TechPowerUp]

Brando starts selling USB 3.0 ExpressCards

While you and I are still quite happy with using USB 2.0 and its slow-as-heck device transfer rates, in comes Brando with a USB 3.0 ExpressCard that offers two USB 3.0 ports which are USB 2.0 backwards compatible, ensuring that you have something to tide yourself over until USB 3.0 finally becomes mainstream in a year or so. It costs $39 USD or about 1,800 Pesos from Brando's online store.

Source: [Brando, Tweaktown]

Gigabyte intros Odin Plus Series PSUs with 500W, 600W, and 700W variants

Gigabyte has introduced a new series of mid-level PSUs called Odin Plus and offers three variations in 500W, 600W and 700W models. All feature solid-state capacitors that came straight for Japan and have multi-rail +12V circuits (the 500W and 600W models have three +12V rails, while the 700W has four.

6+2 pin PCI-Express power connectors are onboard all PSUs, as well as 24-pin ATX connectors and 4+4 pin CPU power connectors. Gigabyte's Odin Plus series PSUs boast an 80 Plus Bronze rating and are said to be coming very soon for retail prices that range from 110 to 130 Euro (from 7,780 Pesos). It certainly sounds like Gigabyte's new Odin Plus series PSUs are going to be good, but they sure aren't that affordable.

Source: [Softpedia]

Lite-On IT targeting top 3 slot in slim-type ODD market

While Lite-On enjoys a healthy reputation when it comes to optical disk drives in the desktop environment, it faces tough competition in the slim-type ODD market. But the company aims to trounce its competitors and achieve more than its currently held 15% of market share to become the third largest maker of slim-type ODDs worldwide. Lite-On IT probably won't relent in trying to reach its goal, but I doubt if any of its competitors are going to let up. We'll see how well it fares in the market for the rest of the year.

Source: [DigiTimes]